Just A Dream
by youjustlostit
Summary: She was in the great hall, in the infirmary, speaking to people who should be dead, apparently in 1945. She was dreaming. She had to be. /TRHG/
1. Prologue

Tom Riddle is a half-blood, although he's made sure no one knows it. Tom Riddle is the smartest wizard Hogwarts has ever seen (except for maybe Dumbledore, but he doesn't consider Dumbledore actually SMART in any sense of the word). Tom Riddle hates mudbloods, muggles, and all blood traitors. They are vile creatures and their magical talents are mediocre at best.

Hermione Granger is muggleborn, a mudblood. Vile and disgusting and everything he hates. Hermione Granger is quite possibly the smartest witch he has ever met. Hermione Granger is easily the smartest Gryffindor he's ever met.

Tom Riddle thinks he may fancy Hermione Granger. This is not good. Not good at all.


	2. Chapter 1

She woke up in the middle of the great hall during a feast. She groaned and opened her eyes to see the whole of Hogwarts staring at her. Hermione felt like vomiting. She looked around for a familiar face, and finally came across Dumbledore… Except he wasn't dead, and he wasn't even in the correct seat. The one who was in the headmaster's seat was one Armando Dippet, who she recognized from his portrait in the headmaster's office. She clenched her eyes shut. She could feel a terrible migraine coming on. _It's just a dream, Hermione. Armando Dippet is dead. Albus Dumbledore is dead. You are currently sleeping in a tent with Harry and Ron. Wake up now. _

But when she opened her eyes she was still in the great hall, and all of the occupants were still staring at her. Finally a woman who she didn't recognize came to her aid. "Are you okay, dear?" the woman asked. Hermione nodded.

"Of course. This is a dream after all." She'd heard of these types of dreams, where you're aware you're dreaming. They're called lucid dreams. She'd even had one or two before.

"… I beg your pardon? You are most certainly NOT dreaming, my dear." However, she'd never had another person in the dream deny that it is a dream.

"… Um, yes, I believe I am dreaming. I apologize if you don't realize it, but you are a figment of my imagination!" For reasons unknown to her, her voice climaxed into a shout in the end. She could see from the corner of her eye students gasping. Who was this girl just materializing in the middle of the Halloween feast and yelling at the healer?

"… Perhaps you would like to come with me to the Hospital wing?" Hermione sighed and nodded, allowing the woman to help her up and walk her out of the great hall. She would wake up sometime soon, anyways. No point in making a scene.

Except, not.

The next time she woke up she was in a hospital cot and she was surrounded by people. "Wh-what's going on?" She asked and, upon trying to lift her head up to get a better view of her surroundings, groaned and muttered a swear word. Everyone looked shocked at a young lady using such language. She felt that if her head feel like death was living in it, she might have rolled her eyes. Instead she just groaned again.

"You are currently laying in a bed in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. I am Madame Perry, the healer. You interrupted our Halloween celebration last night by apparating in the middle of the great hall."

Hermione squinted her eyes at the woman. Where on earth was Madame Pomfrey? Oh, right, this was a dream. Except, if it were a dream surely she would have woken up by now.

"But you can't apparate inside of Hogwarts."

"I know," someone else spoke up. She recognized him as a much younger looking Dumbledore. "I think what Madame Perry meant was that you somehow appeared in the middle of the great hall, and we don't know how you did." He glanced at her confused expression. "From the looks of it, you don't know how you did it either." She shook her head.

"Th-that's impossible. This is a dream. It has to be. I was sleeping in a tent in the middle of the woods. And. And. If this were real it would be, like, nineteen forty-five." She was met with blank stares. Finally a boy who looked way younger than the others, more about her age, stepped up. His gaze was calculating, and her eyes seemed to be locked with his charcoal ones. She took in his appearance. Black hair that almost looked feathered, tall, lanky, thin. Her eyes widened. She knew who he was.

"If I may speak up, it IS nineteen forty-five, miss…" She blinked. Of COURSE it was 1945.

She realized he was looking for a name, and, without thinking, blurted out, "Granger." _…WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? _She asked herself. _Oh, yeah, sure, tell him your real name! Never mind the fact that he's the REASON you're looking for horcruxes._

He nodded. "Well, Miss Granger, I don't know what happened to you, but obviously SOMETHING. Maybe we should leave you to rest a bit more?" She sighed and nodded. "I'll stay at your side in case you need anything." She figured fighting would seem suspicious, so she didn't say anything as Dippet smiled at Tom naively and Dumbledore furrowed his brow.

Once they were gone, though, and Madame Perry was working with other patients. He sat down next to her, leaned in and close, and whispered, "You will tell me everything."

Hermione's eyes widened, and she felt fear she'd never felt before, which was saying something. "I, um, excuse me?" She asked, pretending to be confused.

He gave her a speculating look before saying, "How did you get here? Who are you? What are you planning?"

"P-planning? What do you mean? I have no idea how I got here. I fell asleep and… and… Ugh." She was unsure how to finish the statement, so she just closed her eyes tight and hoped to Merlin that when she opened them she would awake to Ron's obnoxious snoring. But when she opened her eyes he was still there, staring at her.

"You know, Miss Granger-if that is your name, you should tell me everything now, because I WILL find out eventually, and I think it would be easier for the both of us if I found out by you." She suddenly got a slight surge of courage as the inner Gryffindor showed itself in her, and she sat up.

"Is that a threat? Are you threatening me, Mr. Riddle?"

He grinned and said, "Of course not. I will stop speaking with you now, you must be exhausted." She wondered why he seemed so happy suddenly, why he stopped questioning her. She shrugged. At least he stopped.

It wasn't until she was on the brink of sleep that she realized. _He didn't tell me his name._

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><p><strong>So, yeah, first official chapter. This IS AU (obviously). They've just started camping after the ministry. Ron hasn't left yet, and they obviously haven't destroyed the locket yet. I'm gonna go ahead and say as well that it's been a while since I've read the books, and as I'm too lazy to destroy my house looking for them so I can reread them, the only reference I have is anything I can find on the internet, so facts may not always be straight. But if anyone catches some invalid information, just tell me and I'll do my best to fix it! :] Toodles!<strong>


	3. Chapter 2

"Greetings, students of Hogwarts, we have something special for you tonight," Dippet said, and Hermione got ready to walk into the great hall. "There's a special person with us tonight, and she will be here for the rest of the year. This is something that rarely happens, if even that. Everyone, meet Hermione Granger. She was previously privately tutored, but her parents thought it best for her to attend her seventh year of schooling. We've been expecting her for a while, but under certain consequences she was unable to come earlier. We've already sorted her, and she will be joining Gryffindor. I expect everyone to welcome her with open arms." Hermione stepped through the large doors, her face burning a deep scarlet as the whole student body stared at her. She glanced at each table and decided that things never changed.

The whole Hufflepuff table was smiling kindly at her. The Ravenclaws seemed to be torn between being annoyed by her disruption and being curious because no one could think of another time someone came to Hogwarts after first year. The Gryffindors were all cheering for a new student, and the Slytherins were all glaring at her, obviously because of the house rivalry. The only Slytherin not glaring at her seemed to be Riddle, which she just found creepy.

She walked slowly to the Gryffindor table, feeling as though all of that work she had put into raising her confidence over the years was suddenly for naught. _Well, at least I'll be able to take lessons while we try to figure out what's going on._

After waking up for the second time in the hospital wing, she requested to speak to Dumbledore, and, despite all of the rules of time travel, told him everything. He agreed to help and they formed a cover for Dippet.

She was Hermione Granger. Both her parents were half blood. Before now she had been privately tutored by her parents, who had been privately tutored by their magical parents. Her parents decided to have her study at Hogwarts for her final year, and contacted Dippet over the summer.

That was how she ended up sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, eating quietly while everyone seemed to pretend she wasn't there. Apparently their cheers were more for show than anything, as no one seemed to want to acknowledge her presence.

She sighed. She wasn't used to not having friends. Her whole time at Hogwarts she had been surrounded by amazing people who didn't care that she could be annoyingly smart and socially awkward. Didn't care that her hair looked sentient, or that she was frumpy and her skin sometimes got oily. She kept having to remind herself that this was apparently the forties, and that in the forties a girl who didn't always have manners and hardly dressed or looked appropriate was unusual. There was nothing wrong with her, this was just a different time. If anything, there was something wrong with the sheer amount of anti feminism.

Eventually dinner was over and she walked to the Gryffindor common room by herself, using the excuse that she had been showed where it was earlier. She was resting against a wall, hugging herself, hoping desperately she would just wake up and be with her friends again, when a voice sounded beside her.

"Lost?" She opened one eye to the familiar face of Tom Riddle.

"No, just resting."

"Don't be embarrassed. Everyone gets lost on their first day."

She so desperately wanted to say that this was not her first day and that he should bugger off, but, knowing what he was capable of even at such a young age, decided against it. Instead she said, "I was showed where it was earlier by Dumbledore. I promise you I'm not lost. Just tired."

"Well, we wouldn't want you getting lost or falling asleep on your way to your dorm, would we? Maybe I should escort you." She almost declined, but upon seeing a flash of something sinister in his eyes before going back to his normal charismatic gaze, decided it was best not to. Instead she just nodded and tried to ignore him. It was easier said than done. He kept staring at the side of her head, scrutinizing her every move. Finally she had had enough.

"Will you STOP THAT?" she exclaimed. He cocked his head to the side and widened his eyes innocently.

"Stop what?" She almost snorted at how FAKE he sounded.

"Staring! It's… unnerving to be honest, and frankly I am creeped out."

"… I apologize. I didn't realize it was bothering you, if I had known I would had stopped long ago."

"I'm sure." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. He seemed very taken aback. No one was ever sarcastic with him, especially not girls. He was head boy and everyone knew he could get someone expelled with the snap of his fingers (although he preferred a much more… _loud _punishment). It was just because she was new, he told himself. She would learn eventually.

He glanced at her again. She was walking with her arms behind her back, gazing at the paintings and tapestries as they walked to the seventh floor. She didn't seem like a threat. She seemed like a pathetic little girl that wasn't worth his time. And who knows, maybe he HAD told her his name earlier, and he had just somehow forgotten. The random appearing in the great hall could have been some stupid attempt to get her to Hogwarts gone wrong. If the story was true and she WAS harmless, then her parents would be half bloods. Half bloods who hadn't even gotten a proper education. It wasn't THAT surprising that they would mess something like that up so stupidly. The truth of the matter was that Tom was busy with his Knights of Walpurgis, planning and plotting and _**punishing **_and he didn't need some stupid little chit coming in and messing with his head.

The rest of the journey was partook in silence, and when they got to the portrait of the fat lady, he said the password. Upon Hermione's odd look, he told her that as head boy he knew all of the passwords. They stood there staring at each other, before she finally huffed out a breath and walked through the portrait hole. _Was she… sizing me up? _he asked himself. _No, don't be silly, she's just another seventeen year old girl, too caught up in stupid romances and having perfect hair every day to do anything remotely productive as checking out possible enemies (possible enemies? Where had that come from?)._ Although by the looks of it she didn't care THAT much for her appearance… Tom shook his head and smirked, heading back down to the dungeons, a bit of a bounce in his step. Hermione Granger would never grace his thoughts again. She was another stupid little girl that posed no threat.

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><p><strong>Welp, here's chapter two! :] I'm actually pretty proud of this baby! I have only a very, very, VERY vague idea of where it might go, but I'm hoping that it will still go completed.<strong>

**The book series Harry Potter, and all things ASSOCIATED with Harry Potter, do not belong to me. All I own is the plot and any OC characters that appear in the story.**


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